{"id":54,"date":"2024-10-06T05:40:37","date_gmt":"2024-10-06T05:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canisleep.com\/?p=54"},"modified":"2024-10-07T04:54:39","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T04:54:39","slug":"accelerating-sleep-advocacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canisleep.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/06\/accelerating-sleep-advocacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Accelerating Sleep Advocacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Accelerating<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Neurologist-influencer Anne Marie Morse, DO, FAASM, explains how to use sleep to reach patient-valued outcomes.<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

By Chaunie Brusie, RN, BSN<\/em><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
\"Anne<\/a>
Anne Marie Morse, DO, FAASM, is director of child neurology and pediatric sleep medicine at Geisinger Medical Center, co-host of the Sleeping Around podcast, and CEO of DAMM Good Sleep.<\/em> Photography by Dan Galvan\/DG Production<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When people ask Anne Marie Morse<\/a>, DO, FAASM, director of child neurology and pediatric sleep medicine at Geisinger Medical Center in Pennsylvania, co-host of the Sleeping Around podcast<\/a>, CEO of DAMM Good Sleep<\/a>, LLC, and mother of two young children, how she manages to accomplish all she does in a day, she responds simply: \u201cI use sleep as a tool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neurologist-sleep specialist Morse believes in sleep to power her life as a clinician and an advocate for sleep disorder awareness in both the lay and professional communities. For instance, Morse runs a popular TikTok channel (@dammgoodsleep<\/a>, a play on her initials) where she educates on sleep disorders, especially narcolepsy, and works across disciplines as a clinician, speaking, collaborating, and writing on the importance of interdisciplinary diagnostics and care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have my hands in so many different things because there\u2019s cross-functionality,\u201d Morse explains. \u201cI generally approach everything I do in a very entrepreneurial mindset with the ultimate goal to completely disrupt healthcare and transform it into something that is more patient-directed, that will lead to more of the outcomes that patients value<\/a>, to take advantage of the interconnectivity across all the areas that people in their healthcare journey touch, and to be able to start thinking beyond the bricks-and-mortar of where we exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a default, Morse thinks well beyond the bricks-and-mortar and is expanding the reach for sleep medicine across platforms\u2014from one-on-one interactions with patients to globally through social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parallels Between Multiple Sclerosis and Hypersomnias<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Morse\u2019s journey to becoming a neurologist specializing in narcolepsy started with her mother, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) when Morse was 5 years old. The young Morse was imprinted by her mother\u2019s experience, in which she witnessed doctors dismissing symptoms. \u201cThere was misinformation. There was abandonment. There was reinforcement of hopelessness,\u201d Morse remembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as disease-modifying agents became available, her mother\u2019s initial dismissal by doctors led her to avoid seeking further help. As an adult, Morse was struck by the parallels between MS and narcolepsy: similar diagnostic numbers of about 1 in 2,000 people worldwide, peak onset age, and even the ages for secondary peaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I met this diagnosis [of narcolepsy], it was very much an academic and emotional response of, \u2018Holy sh*t, this is exactly what my mom and my family went through,\u2019\u201d Morse recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing her mother\u2019s magnetic resolution imaging scans and realizing that her mother missed out on medications that may have helped motivates Morse in the present to help patients with sleep disorders avoid similar experiences. Morse says, \u201cThis drives me to work to disrupt healthcare, putting the patient in the driver\u2019s seat and figuring out what is important to them, understanding their individual needs and difficulties, and always looking to what we can do now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morse sees narcolepsy following a similar path as MS, with more hope<\/a>, treatments, and awareness of the disease process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs it one size fits all? Absolutely not,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I think we\u2019re now seeing the same type of thing occurring with central disorders of hypersomnolence and advancing how we approach the diagnostic paradigm. How do we improve on that? How do we approach getting medication in hand as soon as we can?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sleep Has a \u2018Huge, Huge Relevance to Everything\u2019 in Medicine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Anne<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Morse sees sleep disorders as a sorely lacking (if not completely overlooked) puzzle piece in nearly every neurological disease process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you look internationally at how much sleep education is performed, there are some parts of the world where it\u2019s zero hours,\u201d Morse says. \u201cIn the United States, on average it\u2019s about three to four hours in four years of medical school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, according to Morse, sleep training doesn\u2019t increase in specialty training. \u201cIf you look at training programs in neurology and pediatric training programs, at least 25% don\u2019t have any mandatory education or experience,\u201d she adds. \u201cIn the 75% that do, many times it\u2019s elective, and oftentimes it is a limited scope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, she points out that sleep disorder training often boils down to a narrow view of sleep-disordered breathing with a brief introduction to obstructive sleep apnea<\/a> (OSA) and CPAP. And while OSA and CPAP are a start, Morse believes more awareness of the role that sleep plays will benefit all care providers and patients. \u201cThere has to be this major transition of people understanding and appreciating that sleep and circadian science have such a huge, huge relevance to everything we\u2019re doing in the rest of medicine,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morse points to examples in different disease states, such as if someone has breast cancer and a circadian rhythm disorder<\/a>, they are more likely to have a more invasive and aggressive cancer.1<\/sup> Or, as a 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis of immune checkpoint indicators<\/a> demonstrated, administration timing can lead to improved outcomes.2<\/sup> \u201cWhen you\u2019re talking about sleep and circadian science<\/a>, we need to be able to lead with those types of conversations to say we\u2019re talking about your disease first, and this is why sleep matters,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> declared sleep deprivation in the United States a public health epidemic. \u201cWhen you\u2019re looking at more than two-thirds of people are not getting the right duration of sleep, that is just the tip of the iceberg,\u201d Morse says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morse Works Toward Change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=nU5qbv5l4iM%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just as Morse views sleep as \u201cnot one sphere\u201d but multi-faceted, she sees an interdisciplinary approach integral to treating disease processes and sleep disorders concurrently. While she hopes physicians and care providers in every specialty will be awakened to the need for more conversations about sleep in care management, she also hopes more disciplines will know they can turn to sleep specialists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not asking people in different disciplines to become sleep specialists,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s so much more to know in every discipline. But\u2026. providers can ask, \u2018What time do you go to bed? How long does it take you to fall asleep?\u2019 And you start identifying that, hey, protracted periods of waking up, of falling asleep, increased number of wakings, a large period awake, high degree of irregularity, those are all just saying, OK, this is when I reach for my partner in sleep medicine who can help me better manage the primary condition.’\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morse isn\u2019t just hoping for an interdisciplinary approach to sleep disorders within all disciplines\u2014she\u2019s also actively working toward it. She does this via public speaking, her work as a textbook and lay author (she\u2019s currently finishing a book on communication and healthcare with Forbes<\/em>), and her podcast and social media advocacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Morse with Sleeping Around podcast co-host Matthew Allard<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI call her one of one for a reason,\u201d says her Sleeping Around podcast co-host Matthew Allard. \u201cAnne inspires anyone she meets. Her knowledge and compassion are what set her apart. She\u2019s a true subject matter expert in all things sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Morse has been so influential that she won the 2024 Patient Advocacy Award from Wake Up Narcolepsy, to be presented at the nonprofit\u2019s first Shadows to Light Gala<\/a> in New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monica Gow<\/a>, co-founder and executive director of Wake Up Narcolepsy, says that Morse supports the narcolepsy community in \u201cmany ways,\u201d and Morse\u2019s work helps both \u201cincrease the understanding of the medical disorder and potentially lead people in the right direction<\/a> if they think they are suffering with an undiagnosed case of narcolepsy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with her efforts to expand the sleep medicine community, Morse is also ushering in new technology within her clinical practice. For instance, her clinic is evaluating bringing Natus diagnostic equipment into its sleep labs. To her, part of Natus\u2019 appeal is that the company is one of the few diagnostic companies with the full spectrum of polysomnography, as well as EEG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a neurologist, I\u2019m biased in that being able to tap into that and have that cross-functionality, number one, makes sense from a fiscal business delivery,\u201d Morse notes. \u201cBut secondarily, the part that\u2019s even more exciting is that it starts to create this opportunity to think about what we can do with machine learning and artificial intelligence<\/a> (AI). I think it\u2019s important to remind people that it\u2019s not that AI is going to replace what you do; it\u2019s going to improve on it. If there is the ability to auto-detect a certain characterization or biomarker, can we actually improve diagnosing and characterizing traits better that will optimize the patient?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She adds, \u201cI get excited about companies like this because they have the foresight, as well as the investment in their innovations and their research and development arm, to really start thinking about these things. If there is a physiologic finding, a neurophysiologic finding, that would help us better diagnose and manage\u2014or consider\u2014it is a piece that is very exciting to be able to utilize, especially in a large healthcare system like ours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morse is hopeful about a future that, like her multifaceted platforms, integrates everything from technology to primary care to even social media as pathways to expand the scope of sleep medicine. She says, \u201cIt\u2019s coming into its full capacity of what I had envisioned, which is utilizing sleep as a tool and a springboard to ask, \u2018How do we live our best days?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

References<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1. Blakeman V, Williams JL, Meng QJ, Streuli CH. Circadian clocks and breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res<\/em>. 2016 Sep 2;18(1):89.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Perdyan A, Sobocki BK, Balihodzic A, et al. The effectiveness of cancer immune checkpoint inhibitor retreatment and rechallenge-A systematic review. Cancers (Basel).<\/em> 2023 Jul 4;15(13):3490.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cover photography by Dan Galvan\/DG Production<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Neurologist-influencer Anne Marie Morse, DO, FAASM, explains how to use sleep to reach patient-valued outcomes. By Chaunie Brusie, RN, BSN When people ask Anne Marie Morse, DO, FAASM, director of child neurology and pediatric sleep medicine at Geisinger Medical Center in Pennsylvania, co-host of the Sleeping Around podcast, CEO of DAMM Good Sleep, LLC, and mother of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sleep-blogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canisleep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canisleep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canisleep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canisleep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canisleep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canisleep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56,"href":"https:\/\/canisleep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions\/56"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canisleep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canisleep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canisleep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}